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    Left to right: Deputy Leader of the Aberystwyth Guild of Students election results as reported in the Courier, February 1977. Siân Gwenllian addressing a protest during her time on Gwynedd Council (with thanks to Rhys Llwyd). Siân Gwenllian campaigning in the 2021 Senedd Elections (with thanks to Arwyn Roberts)

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          On the air sign

          100 years of the BBC in Wales: an uneasy start and unclear future

          Solva, painting of a Pembrokeshire fishing village, Frances Hodgkins, 1936

          The lasso of levelling up could further capture Wales

          Left to right: Deputy Leader of the Aberystwyth Guild of Students election results as reported in the Courier, February 1977. Siân Gwenllian addressing a protest during her time on Gwynedd Council (with thanks to Rhys Llwyd). Siân Gwenllian campaigning in the 2021 Senedd Elections (with thanks to Arwyn Roberts)

          “Gentlemen, and, oh … Miss Gwenllian”: gender inequality in political life

          Hiker at sunrise in South Wales, standing on top of a Sandstone outcrop on Craig Yr Allt near Cardiff

          Darkest before dawn? The future of Welsh journalism

          Universal basic income and the environment

          Universal basic income for a just transition

          Graffiti of a homeless person reflected in a mirror

          Destitution in Cardiff: the hidden victims of austerity

          Modern tiny house

          Could tiny homes find a home in Wales?

          Growing community-led investigations: the fertiliser effect

          The fertiliser effect: putting storytelling into community hands

          An overgrown, porous border

          A borderless border country? 

          Trending Tags

          • Cost of living
          • Devolution
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          • Education
          • Europe
          • Health
          • Housing
          • Media
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          Welsh lady Lego design by Ian Drew

          Building on tradition: a Welsh lego campaign

          Image from Cwch Deilen (Leaf Boat) by Efa Blosse-Mason

          Welshness feels like a precious secret

          Rowan berries

          I who will return: for Hilary Tann

          “Welsh is of this soil, this island, the senior language of the men of Britain; and Welsh is beautiful.” J.R.R. Tolkien

          Dwi’n dysgu Cymraeg: a winding road to Welsh

          Remember Tryweryn, and the drowning of Capel Celyn. Photo of graffiti on a rock near Aberystwyth by Dafydd Tomos via Wikimedia

          The complexities of Welsh identity

          Daily prompt collage project Marchollage

          Marchollage: collage is comfort, connection, and a creative renaissance

          Gŵyl Crime Cymru Festival, Aberystwyth

          Gŵyl Crime Cymru Festival: Wales’s first international crime literature festival

          Welsh place names: Yr Wyddfa, Eyryi

          Welsh place names are being erased – and so are the stories they tell

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        • Hiraeth
          Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre, Wymore, Nebraska

          The Welsh do wander so: a Welsh home on the Plains

          Welsh immigrants in Canada, early 1900s

          The Calgary Welsh Society: a home from home

          Chicago Tafia Welsh Society, Grand Slam, Globe Pub, Chicago, 2008

          Red, white, and green in America

          Conwy, North Wales

          Land of my father

          Jenny Chung, pluviophile, Welsh-Chinese in Hong Kong

          The ghost girl: growing up Welsh-Chinese

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          Who are we?

          Welsh place names: Yr Wyddfa, Eyryi

          Welsh place names are being erased – and so are the stories they tell

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              Universal basic income for a just transition

              Universal basic income has arguably never been a more important tool. People and societies need assistance with the transition to Net Zero.

              Jonathan WilliamsbyJonathan Williams
              01-03-2023 07:01
              in Economy, Politics & Society
              Universal basic income and the environment

              In the line of fire. Photo by Christopher Burns on Unsplash

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              It is impossible for anyone to predict the precise series of events that will follow such a rise in planetary temperatures. We know that large parts of coastal cities and towns will become uninhabitable, from Shanghai to Cardiff, California to Barry. We know that desertification from soaring temperatures in countries such as Pakistan and Kenya will leave those parts of the world uninhabitable.

              Consequently, billions of people will be left displaced from their homes and be searching for pastures new. All through no fault of their own. Those to blame will mainly be Western countries. Over the past 200 years, they have polluted the planet seemingly beyond repair.

              How quickly the aforementioned events will come to pass as temperatures begin to rise above catastrophic levels is anyone’s guess. But if it is sudden and uncontrollable, then it is not hyperbolic to suggest that civilisation as we know it could collapse shortly after the worst impacts of climate change appear.

              That is why all of us must implore our elected politicians and those running organisations responsible for climate change to change their ways and transition to cleaner economies and societies.

              Universal basic income and climate change

              To its credit the Welsh Government has made some positive steps in this respect. Its decision following the recent road review, to shift away from new road-building schemes towards more sustainable policies, was a bold decision. And the right one, in my view. But it must be backed up by investments in alternatives so that the transition is fair and just for those who rely on road travel.

              In the same vein, transitioning workers out of polluting heavy industries must be fair. The Welsh economy is still heavily reliant on these types of jobs. We cannot have a repeat of what happened 40 years ago, when Prime Minister Thatcher smashed the unions, closed our mines, and left communities across Wales destitute.

              Those communities are still suffering today. For many, the only thing they will inherit is intergenerational poverty. But history doesn’t have to repeat itself. That’s why the UBI Lab Cymru and others have campaigned for the Welsh Government to include heavy industry workers in the ongoing care leavers basic income pilot in Wales.

              A just Net Zero transition

              For those who are new to the concept, a basic income is a regular, unconditional income paid directly to everyone regardless of their income, wealth, or employment status. How much is paid as an income is open to debate, and studies by think tanks such as Compass and Autonomy have considered this in detail.

              We know from trials across the world that universal basic income significantly improves physical and mental well-being, educational attainment, productivity, entrepreneurship, and trust in government, among many other benefits. It saves money on the health system and invests in future generations, who may not have the opportunity to pursue higher education without basic income.

              What we don’t know is whether universal basic income will assist with our transition towards a net zero economy. I’m betting it will.

              The Welsh Government and a significant majority in the Senedd backed Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds’s motion calling for heavy industry workers to be included on the universal basic income trial. They now need to follow through.

              In 2019, around 2,300 people were employed in the mining and quarrying industry in Wales. All of those workers will be worried about their future employment. They are told that we must stop extracting fossil fuels as soon as possible if we are to prevent the worst of climate change.

              But we will not bring them onboard with the necessary changes unless we show them that they will not be left behind as we transition to a net zero economy. They have families to feed and bills to pay like the rest of us.

              The Welsh Government is currently fighting a legal battle with Coal Action Network on the decision to extend a mining licence in Aberpergwm. If the Welsh Government succeeds, the mine will continue to operate until 2035. In that time, 100 tonnes of CO2 and 30 tonnes of methane will be released into the atmosphere.

              A win-win-win scenario

              Rather than fight this legal battle, the Welsh Government could refuse to extend the licence, close the mine, and add the approximately 130 workers onto the basic income trial. The move would be ground-breaking in that it would be the first time any government considered how a basic income could be used a tool for a just transition.

              We could see these workers thrive, not just survive. They can set up businesses, become mature students, care for their loved ones, and take up volunteering opportunities in their local communities.

              Of course, it is not just miners who face the prospect of losing their roles. A recent announcement by Liberty Steel will result in around 150 job losses at its Newport and Torfaen sites. The Welsh Government could step in and turn a bad news story into a good one by including these workers on the trial.

              The Welsh Government has the support of a majority in the Senedd and the foundations of a trial already in place to make a significant contribution to the global fight against climate change. And it can show the world that universal basic income, UBI, is the ideal mechanism for ensuring workers can justly transition from heavy industry jobs.

              It’s time they seized that opportunity.

                Great read! Let me buy you a coffee.
              Tags: climate changeenvironmentNet ZeroUBIuniversal basic income
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              Jonathan Williams

              Jonathan Williams

              Jonathan Williams is a solicitor at Watkins and Gunn, with a primary focus on industrial disease and employment claims, and played a part in the firm’s work representing victims of the contaminated blood scandal at the Infected Blood Inquiry. He’s a fluent Welsh speaker. He’s co-founder of UBI Lab Wales, a collaboration of individuals, organisations, and policymakers working towards securing a Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot in Wales. For his excellent legal, charity, and voluntary work, Jonathan won the Cardiff and District Law Society’s Junior Lawyer of the Year award 2020.

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              “Welsh is of this soil, this island, the senior language of the men of Britain; and Welsh is beautiful.” J.R.R. Tolkien

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